


Holiday

by Akiko_Natsuko



Series: Gratsu [8]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Beaches, Established Relationship, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Holidays, M/M, Ocean, Swimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-08-17 07:04:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16511576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: Natsu and Gray both love their team-mates and enjoy going out on jobs and hanging with the guild, but sometimes it is necessary to get away from it all, especially after the year they've just had.





	Holiday

     Gray sighed softly as he glanced across at Natsu, sympathy flashing across his face as he took in the sickly, green tinge to his mate’s skin, wishing desperately that there had been some way to get to their destination without having to resort to vehicles. However, it would have been practically impossible as well as taking days more, and Natsu had adamantly argued that he wanted to enjoy as much of their brief holiday on the island together as possible, stating that he could handle transport if it meant a full week alone with Gray. Of course, his weak stomach hadn’t shared his determination, and the train ride to the coast had left him weak and shaking, and that was now being compounded by the boat-ride to the island.

“Is he alright?” A kind voice broke into his thoughts, and he glanced up to find one of the boat crew had stopped beside them, studying the softly groaning Dragon-slayer with concern.

“Yeah,” Gray replied softly, knowing that Natsu despite his usual devil may care attitude he found the deliberating motion-sickness as embarrassing as it was deliberating. Still, he knew that he owed the man an explanation, especially as he had taken the time to come and ask whereas most of the people on the boat had taken one look at the Dragon-slayer and avoided them like the plague. “He suffers from motion sickness.” _We really need to look into a way of applying Troia when Wendy isn’t around,_ he thought to himself as he glanced across at Natsu once more.

“Ah I see,” the crewman grimaced in sympathy before glancing up at the main clock, and adding in an apologetic tone. “We should be there within the hour.”

“Thank you,” Gray muttered, wishing that they were much closer than that as he hated seeing Natsu in this state. With a last worried glance at Natsu the crewman moved away to give them space, and with a sigh, Gray shifted across until he was right next to the Dragon-slayer. “Hey come here,” he ordered softly, reaching out to gently tug on Natsu’s arm, easily pulling the unresisting Dragons-layer down until he was laying with his head in Gray’s lap knowing from experience that the position made it slightly easier for Natsu to ride out the motion-sickness.

“Sorry,” Natsu mumbled quietly even as he pressed his face against Gray’s stomach, his hands coming up to grasp the Ice mage’s shirt tightly enough to turn his knuckles white. He hated his motion sickness at the best of times, but this was meant to be a special, romantic trip for the pair of them and he couldn’t help but feel as though he was ruining it already.

“It’s okay,” Gray soothed him, reaching up to gently run his fingers through Natsu’s hair, his lips twitching upwards as despite the situation Natsu leant into the touch. It was one of the Dragon-slayer’s favourite things, and if Gray was perfectly honest it was one of his favourites too, and it certainly beat Erza’s usual method of dealing with Natsu on vehicles. The Ice mage winced at the very thought of it, even back when they had just been rivals he had been hesitant to use that method, and now there was no way in hell he would even consider it. “We’ll be there soon,” he added softly as he glanced up at the clock, wishing the hands would move faster.

**

    When they finally docked just over an hour later Gray was already waiting by the gangway, their bags slung over his shoulder and a weakly protesting Natsu in his arms, not that the Dragon-slayer currently had the strength to do more than argue that he was capable of moving by himself. The Ice mage steadfastly ignored Natsu’s complaints, and the whispers and glances from the crew and other passengers - they could all go to hell as far as he was concerned, all he cared about was getting Natsu back on dry land as soon as possible. The moment the ramp was lowered he was already moving, carefully navigating it and quickly moving aside while the other passengers disembarked while he reluctantly settled Natsu down on his own two legs. For a moment, the Dragon-slayer swayed as his body tried to catch up with the fact that it was now back on dry land, and Gray knew the moment it set in because a relieved grin spread across Natsu’s face.

“Thank goodness,” he exclaimed with only a little of the usual enthusiasm that he usually had when he got off a vehicle, and Gray frowned slightly, having a good idea what was causing the dampened response, and he quickly stepped forward, refusing to let his idiot wallow in that kind of thoughts.

“Oi,” he growled as he poked the Dragon-slayer firmly in the side, causing Natsu to spin around with a startled cry arms instinctively wrapping around his midriff to protect himself from further attacks as he turned wide eyes on Gray. “It doesn’t matter that you got motion-sickness! We already knew that was going to happen!”

“But…”

“What matters is that we’re here now! Just the two of us,” Gray continued in a stronger tone, refusing to give Natsu a chance to protest what he was saying, knowing that if he did then nothing he said would get through the Dragon-slayer’s thick skull.  “So stop worrying about it alright? I was planning on us taking a longer route, but you insisted on this just so we could have more time. And I’m glad you did,” he finished in a soft voice, meeting Natsu’s wide-eyed gaze head-on as he tried to convey the sincerity of his words and after a moment the Dragon-slayer gave a small nod, and the Ice mage could see the real smile spreading across his face.

“Thank you,” Natsu whispered softly, but before Gray could come up with a response the Dragon-slayer had erupted into motion, jumping and dancing around with his usual enthusiasm and Gray shook his head fondly at the reaction. _This is the Natsu I always want to see…_

“Come on, let’s go and find out hut and unpack,” Gray encouraged a few minutes later when Natsu had calmed down slightly, and the Dragon-slayer nodded brightly, the excitement he had been showing before they’d had to travel reappearing as he let Gray grab his hand and pull him along behind him.

****

The next morning:

    They had spent the first afternoon and evening just hanging around in their beach hut, both to give Natsu a chance to fully recover from his motion-sickness, but also just to have that time together without any activities to distract them and most of that time had been spent cuddled up on the large hammock bed. Unfortunately, the extra rest seemed to have completely replenished Natsu’s energy levels, and Gray had found himself getting dragged out bed as soon as the sun had risen by an over-excited Dragon-slayer who wasn’t about to take no for an answer.

“Gray!” Natsu shouted with a pout as he realised that the Ice mage was still stuffing stuff into a beach bag, even though he’d been ready to go for a while and he couldn’t quite keep the whine out of his voice as he watched his mate unconsciously yank off his shirt. “Come on, hurry up!! And put your shirt back on.”

“Alright,” Gray relented as he caught the puppy-eyes that Natsu was sending in his direction, rolling his eyes as he absent-mindedly yanked his shirt back on, noting how the Fire mage was practically bouncing with excitement and inching ever closer to the door. “Geez, hold your horses, would you! What’s got you so fired up this morning?” He asked without heat as he scooped up their beach bag and grabbing Natsu’s towel which the flame-brained idiot had managed to drop in his excitement. He couldn’t remember the last time the idiot had been this excited, and to his disgust, he couldn’t summon up the slightest bit of irritation. Instead, his brain was busy, unhelpfully telling him that it was ‘cute’ how Natsu was looking and acting at that moment, _what has this flame-brained idiot done to me?_

“We’re on holiday!” Natsu exclaimed loudly with a broad grin on his face as he waved his hand at the beach and ocean waiting for them outside, rocking on the balls of his feet as he adds happily.  “No work and no teammates for seven days!” It wasn’t that he minded spending time with their team, and they had managed a couple of group holidays in the last few months…but as much as he loved them, he wanted to spend time alone with his mate and finding that time had been proving nearly impossible with recent events. _But he’s all mine this week!!_ He thought triumphantly, it had cost them extra, but they had managed to book a completely private beach house on the island which came with a small beach just for them to use. They would have to do some big jobs with minimal damage to build up their savings again after this, but the Dragon-slayer didn’t care.

“Yeah,” Gray said softly, smiling as he caught the emotions playing across Natsu’s face and wondering if Natsu realised just how easy he was to read, but he shoved that thought aside as he knew the Dragon-slayer wouldn’t care as long as it was him doing the reading. “It’s been far too long since we had some proper time to ourselves,” he muttered with heartfelt impatience, remembering the numerous dates and romantic nights in that they had planned only for them to be postponed due to emergencies or inconsiderate friends…

 “Exactly,” Natsu nodded his head empathically, glad that he seemed to have finally got through to his mate and dancing closer to the door before turning back and holding out a hand. “So Beach?!” He asked with an expectant expression and with a small chuckle took the proffered hand, allowing the Dragon-slayer to pull him out of the door.

**

     They spent the entire morning down on the beach, challenging each other to races both over the sand and in the water with neither of them really caring who won or lost. Especially as most of the races ending up with them tackling one another and wrestling playfully completely free of the competitiveness and pettiness that had accompanied many previous beach trips. Later they had explored the rock pools further along the beach, although Gray was constantly having to sneakily release the creatures that Natsu was managing to capture with the intention of cooking them for dinner, managing to convince the Dragon-slayer that they were escaping on their own unaware of the fact that Natsu had already caught onto what was happening.

    After a quick lunch back at their hut, they had returned to the beach, both of them enjoying the fact that there was no pressure for them to do anything else. There was no work to do, no Happy demanding they go fishing and no teammates trying to drag them off to do other activities, and while they felt kind of bad for their friends who were stuck working neither of them would have changed the situation for the world.

    For the next couple of hours, they sunbathed with the occasional dip in the sea to cool off, occasionally reminiscing about previous holidays and beach trips but spending most of the time in a comfortable silence just enjoying the time together. Eventually though Gray had to admit defeat, retreating into the shade provided by a small group of palm trees, both his magic and northern upbringing making it difficult for him to deal with heat for so long much to his annoyance.  In a reversal of the previous day, Natsu reassured him that he didn’t mind in the slightest just so long as they still got to cuddle, quite happily taking up residence in the shade beside him.

***

   The evening was beginning to fall when Gray suggested that they started to think about heading back to get dinner, and Natsu had agreed after claiming that he’d take one last dip in the ocean. Which Gray had happily agreed with knowing how much Natsu loved being in the ocean - or water in general which was somewhat ironic considering he was a Fire Mage. It had always been the river that he retreated to when he was upset about something, and Gray had since discovered that his mate would often go for walks in stormy weather, enjoying the sensation of the rain pelting against him. With a small smile he waved the Dragon-slayer off, and with a last lingering glance Natsu took off with a happy yell, charging into the ocean without hesitation.

**

   Gray watched with a fond smile as Natsu finally staggered out of the ocean nearly half an hour later, a childishly happy smile on his face which dimmed in comparison to the way that olive eyes lit up as their gazes met, and to his embarrassment, the Ice mage felt his cheeks heating up. It wasn’t helped by the fact that he had just remembered how tempting a soaking wet Natsu was, and by the time the Dragon-slayer reached him, Gray’s mouth was slightly open, and he was openly staring at the water making its way down tanned skin. The only comfort he could draw from at that moment was that Natsu had clearly noticed his attention and was now a matching shade of pink.

“Don’t stare,” Natsu muttered under his breath as he held out his hand, gesturing towards his towel that was lying next to Gray, only to let out a startled squawk a moment later when Gray grabbed his hand and yanked him down into his lap instead.

“It’s not my fault,” Gray denied fiercely as he wrapped his arms tightly around the wriggling Dragon-slayer, and Natsu let out a soft sigh of defeat as he realised that the Ice mage really had no intention of letting him go. Instead, he just shifted until he was sat with his back against Gray’s chest, letting out a hum of contentment as he leant back against the cooler body. “You’re much too tempting when you're wet,” Gray added before smirking slightly, leaning forward to press a small kiss to the base of Natsu’s neck, laughing when the Dragon-slayer jolted violently with a low whine.

“I hate you,” Natsu muttered petulantly before deliberately shaking his head so that he sent a spray of water over Gray, only to yelp as the air behind him turned glacial for the briefest moment before Gray’s arms tightened around him.

“Behave,” there was a wealth of warning and promise in that one word, and Natsu swallowed hard, feeling his face heating up yet again as he hastily nodded to show that he understood although he couldn’t keep the pout of his face when Gray laughed softly at his reaction.

    They sat in silence for several minutes, and Natsu was just beginning to grow restless and was considering suggesting that they head back now when he felt a familiar soft touch in his hair. Blinking as he realised that Gray now only had one arm wrapped around his waist to keep him in place and wondering how he had missed that change. Still, thoughts of escape were far from his mind as he felt the Ice mage’s fingers brush against his scalp and he let out a happy sigh at the sensation, all thoughts of heading back dinner flying from his mind as he lost himself in Gray’s ministrations for the next few minutes.

“Are you glad we came?” Natsu asked eventually when he began to feel the silence was dragging on too long, tilting his head slightly to make Gray’s efforts easier, olive eyes bright as he studied his mate, enjoying the look of relaxation that had replaced the tense lines that had been present for the past few weeks. It had been the tiredness that he had felt through their bond that had made him so keen to suggest this holiday, not that Gray had put up much of an argument when he’d suggested it, and in fact, the Ice mage had become the driving force behind organising their holiday.

“Yeah,” Gray replied instantly with a warm smile, remembering just how shy Natsu had been when he had brought up the topic of just the two of them going away for a holiday, still wondering if the Dragon-slayer had really thought for a moment that he would say no. “Are you?” He asked instead.

“Mmm-hmm,” Natsu hummed softly as he turned his gaze back to the ocean, noting that the sun was setting now and bathing the water in beautiful reds and oranges and he smiled at the sight before continuing quietly. “It seems like so much as happened since I went into season that we haven’t had a chance to just stop and take stock.” It seemed as though their guild had, had a bulls-eye painted on it for the last few months and they always seemed to find themselves in the centre of it. It made Natsu tired to just think about it, let alone having survived through it and he knew that he and Gray both needed this break more than they had realised before.

“Yeah,” Gray said quietly, his eyes darkening for a moment and Natsu felt his arm tighten around him, and he winced, wondering if he should have kept that thought to himself. Gray stared blankly out the ocean for a long moment as he thought over everything that had happened. There had been pain, both mental and physical, moments of defeat and grief and yet he knew that if it hadn’t been for all that then none of them - both he and Natsu, and the rest of their friends wouldn’t be where they were now. Their bonds wouldn’t be as strong. They wouldn’t have grown as much as they had, and he knew that there was only one thing that he could say. “I don’t regret it though,” the Ice mage continued after a moment, his hold loosening slightly as he ducked down to press a gentle kiss to the top of Natsu’s head and the Dragon-slayer’s face melted into a relieved smile at the gesture.

“I’m glad.”

     Sitting there watching the sunset over the ocean stretching out around them, Gray felt utter contentment wash over him, and he tightened his hold on Natsu once more, pressing a warm kiss to pink hair and smiling as Natsu blushed before humming happily. Ye, he mused as he rested his head against Natsu’s they had been through a lot, and no doubt they would go through more in the future. However, as long as they got moments like this in between, then he knew that they would be able to cope with whatever came their way.

 


End file.
